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Don't Worry About Your Guns: There Is Nothing Left To Defend

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[Editor’s Note: The following is by TDV legal correspondent, Jim Karger]

"And, to you tough-talking Neo-Cons with your AR-15 rifles and a few thousand rounds of ammo, here is reality: they will take your guns, and no, all your Second Amendment bluster aside, you are not going to do anything about it. You are not going to take on a platoon of Marines with state of the art automatic weapons and the best body armor you cannot buy protected by armed personnel carriers and attack helicopters unless you choose to die that day -- for nothing.

You will either be in the country or out, and if you are in, you will stay in and you will comply.

And, even after all the recent saber-rattling in response to Obama's threat to ban certain semi-automatic rifles, I still believe every word of that article. Most Americans will give up their guns when they are told do so. Not necessarily because they are afraid to die, although most are, but because they are so used to giving up what the government mandates be turned over. Guns may just be the next takeaway in a long list of takings by the State.

Others will come to the conclusion that guns no longer serve a purpose vis-à-vis protection from government tyranny because they have already given up all the rights that matter. From free speech to freedom of the press, all that which was once held sacred has been fully abridged. Even Bill Maher, a liberal's liberal, gets that irony.

From a government that once complied with the requirements of due process down to dutifully reading one's Miranda rights, we now suffer under a Leviathan that openly claims (and exercises) the right to arrest, indefinitely detain, sequester, jail, and even kill its own citizens without charges, an attorney, or a trial.

From cops who used to fear violating a citizen's rights, we have morphed law enforcement into a vast, thuggish, militarized Gestapo-like police network that share only one commonality: they don't care about the law. They care about what they want. And, if you get in the way or don't do exactly as you are told, or in some cases don't intuit what it is they want you to do, you can end up face down on the pavement like this poor bastard.

From a simple rap sheet on felons that might be available in the past, the State and all of its appendages can and do have access to your most personal information that can be used to construct vast dossiers that are widely shared through new institutions like Joint Terrorism Task Forces, fusion centers, and public-private partnerships. (That information, by the way, includes the fact that you are reading this blog online. They know. They will remember. Forever.)

Free speech that was once revered is now also in the ashcan of history. The Patriot Act, as only one example, makes it a crime for an American citizen to engage in peaceful, lawful activity on behalf of any group designated as a "terrorist organization." And who gets to define "terrorist organization"? The Secretary of State who reports directly to the President. Even organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been characterized a "terrorist threat" by government. And, of course, anarchists who by definition do not believe in aggression against others, including aggression by the State, are set aside for special condemnation as "terrorists" by the U.S. government:

“The FBI has described anarchist extremists as typically being “event driven,” meaning

they show up at political conventions, economic and financial summits, environmental meetings, and the like. They usually target symbols of Western civilization that they perceive to be the root causes of all societal ills—i.e., financial corporations, government institutions, multinational companies, and law enforcement agencies. They damage and vandalize property, riot, set fires, and perpetrate small-scale bombings. Law enforcement is also concerned about anarchist extremists who may be willing to use improvised explosives devices or improvised incendiary devices.” (Source: Congressional Research Service)

Freedom of the press has likewise been shit-canned, and now subject to the whims of government. Of course, government need not take much action against the press, not anymore, since most mainstream press organizations are merely mouthpieces of government. But in the rare event a reporter or a publication wants to expose the incestuous relationship of government and big business, to reveal the State for what it is, they are shut down under threat of law. Good example: agricultural gag laws that provide prison for reporters that reveal animal abuse in industrial agriculture are an in-your-face violation of the First Amendment, but few care anymore, even the courts.

So, what's the point? Just this: the Second Amendment which prohibits the federal government from abridging the freedom to possess firearms, a right ostensibly provided by the Founders in order to prevent government from stripping away other freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, is arguably unnecessary now, to-wit, those rights which our guns were supposed to protect have already been stripped away. Indeed, other than the right to shop and go out to eat (neither specifically mentioned in the Constitution), there are few rights that most Americans seem to care about anymore. Instead, they have been gamed by bread and circuses without firing a shot.

I would opine that under these circumstances government would care little whether Americans are armed or not. However, the Feds must suspect civil unrest is coming when the dollar collapses, and hungry people with guns probably isn't what they have in mind as an endgame, which brings us full circle back to government, per Congressional directive or Executive edict, one day going door to door asking not-so-kindly for your weapons which will leave you asking what liberties you have left worth dying for.

Jim Karger is a lawyer, and frequent contributor to The Dollar Vigilante, who has represented American businesses against incursions by government and labor unions for 30 years. In 2001, he left Dallas and moved to San Miguel de Allende in the high desert of central Mexico where he sought and found a freer and simpler life for him and his wife, Kelly, and their 10 dogs. He is TDV's San Miguel de Allende concierge and his website is found at www.crediblyconnect.com.

When you cast your eyes abroad in search of a freer life, make sure to skip over places that suck even more than the USSA. For example, you may want to think twice about Russia or Indonesia...

Russia is going ahead with despotic, socially conservative (i.e. obnoxious busybodyism backed by state guns) anti-homosexuality laws. And today we read of a UK grandmother who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Bali.

Apparently, Bali has a bumping night club scene chock full of foreigners from awful, dreary, Orwellian places like the UK. Living in the UK sucks so much that people from there are willing to seek the thrill of enjoying themselves abroad while risking execution.

As a rule, if getting your jollies with other consenting adults or by putting certain substances in your body will get you caged or killed by the state...stay away from that state...! Or if you have other good reasons to be there, at least wait till you leave to get your jollies. Our own editor-in-chief has at least once in his earlier years immediately boarded a plane and left a country within minutes of landing there and finding out that alcohol is forbidden. It's that kind of experience that probably led our globetrotting leader to found TDV Groups for our subscribers....So that they could know as much as possible about some new destination they've had their eye on...

If it's on-the-ground information on possible havens abroad that you seek, then you need look no further than TDV Groups. We have people around the world who have built up wonderful lives as expatriots...and they're eager to help others do the same. Access to TDV Groups and their Concierges is a FREE benefit to subscribers to our Weekly Dispatch newsletters. And of course subscribers get more macroeconomic analysis and actionable financial advice as well. You can find out more about becoming a subscriber here.

And if you happen to be on the ground and enjoying life someplace that you think other Vigilantes would love...and you're interested in becoming a TDV Group Concierge...then let us know! Write James Guzman at jguzman@tdvmedia.com.